Long wait is over for well-deserving MVP Pierce

Kevin Garnett is the most high profile Celtic and he was outstanding in Game 6, but this is Pierce's moment. Garnett is a Celtic but Pierce is the Celtics.

As dysfunctional, soft and embarrassing as the Lakers and the no-defense Euros were, Pierce was the diametrically opposing force, every bit the hardened fighter and leader who deserves mention in the same breath with one Larry Joe Bird.

Then again, the Lakers turned out to be easy marks. Los Angeles played with the toughness of a Girl Scout troupe aggressively selling thin mints.

And Paul Gasol just got dunked on again.

Not since plastic surgeons went on strike has L.A. been this overwhelmed.

Boston guard Rajon Rondo had as many offensive rebounds as the entire Los Angeles team. Which leads to the question: Do they have backboards in Europe?

You know those NBA commercials where two stars are on a split screen talking about how there can only be one? Gasol shot his with the Pillsbury Doughboy.

The defensive charge against the Lakers which stunned them throughout the series was led by Pierce and Garnett. From the start to the end, Pierce was the best player on the floor. He out-hustled and outplayed the best gamer on the planet in Bryant. It wasn't even close.

If you want to see how a superstar is supposed to lead his team, in a huge spot, look no further than Pierce.

No, Pierce hasn't always been the perfect person (who is?). This season he was fined $25,000 for flashing an alleged gang sign. In the 2002 World Championships, as Sports Illustrated pointed out, he alienated coaches George Karl and Gregg Popovich.

Still, there is no police blotter moment claiming spousal abuse or Me-Me public detonations when things grew really horrific in Boston. Sorry, but such selfishness and athlete violence are so common now you do get a gold star when you don't send your wife to the emergency room.

Pierce exploded in the postseason. His 38 points in Game 5 was the third most in a Finals ever by a Celtic. Pierce didn't come close to matching that offensive output in the deciding Game 6 yet he still had those 10 assists.

He has been a scorer, a defender, an assist man. He was everything Ko-Me was supposed to be.

I once thought this was the time when Bryant would certify he had inherited the throne of Michael Jordan. Maybe Pierce is the one who has done that instead.

The long wait, the lost years, the doubts. In one magnanimous moment ...

... they're all forgotten.